Storms Collide on Kansas and Missouri Border

At a Glance

The month has ranked among the coldest in some cities and among the snowiest in others.

Winter storms Avery and Bruce also brought significant impacts to the central and eastern states.

Northern California's Camp Fire erupted in early November, becoming the deadliest fire in state history.

November has been filled with an abundance of unusual weather conditions, particularly in the central and eastern United States, where some cities are experiencing one of the coldest or snowiest Novembers on record.

In the first 25 days of the month, temperatures from the Plains to the East Coast and parts of the South have been colder than average overall, according to data from NOAA's Climate Prediction Center.

The coldest areas, relative to average, have generally been in the Mississippi Valley region, from the Canadian border southward to Arkansas. Portions of Maine and far northern New York have also had far-below-average temperatures in November.

Temperatures were generally colder than average Nov. 1-25 in the areas shaded blue.

(Source: NOAA/CPC)

Here are seven of the oddest things we've seen in this unusual month.

1. One of the Coldest Novembers in the Central States and Parts of the Interior Northeast

Several cities in the central U.S. are experiencing one of the coldest Novembers on record.

Nov. 1-26 was the third-coldest on record in Kansas City, Missouri; third-coldest in Little Rock, Arkansas; seventh-coldest in St. Louis; seventh-coldest in Oklahoma City; ninth-coldest in Des Moines, Iowa; and tied for the ninth-coldest in Dallas/Fort Worth, according to data from NOAA's Regional Climate Centers.

It has also been a top-10-coldest November in parts of upstate New York and New England.

Nov. 1-26 was the second-coldest on record in Bangor, Maine; third-coldest in Syracuse, New York; fourth-coldest in Binghamton, New York; fifth-coldest in Portland, Maine; fifth-coldest in Concord, New Hampshire; seventh-coldest in Worcester, Massachusetts; eighth-coldest in Buffalo, New York; and tied for the eighth-coldest in Hartford, Connecticut.

2. One of the Snowiest Novembers in the Midwest, Northeast

A number of cities in the Midwest and Northeast are in the midst of one of the snowiest Novembers on record.

It was the fourth-snowiest November in Chicago as of Nov. 26, with 12 inches of snow piling up at O'Hare International Airport. The snowiest November in the Windy City brought 14.8 inches of snow in 1940.

Moline, Illinois, picked up 18.4 inches of snow in November's first 26 days, vaulting the city to its snowiest November on record. Winter Storm Bruce was responsible for 13.8 inches of that total on Nov. 25-26.

Kansas City, Missouri, with 7.6 inches of snow in November, notched its second-snowiest November in records dating to 1889.

3. Bruce Was a Rare November Blizzard in Northern Kansas, Northern Missouri and Northwestern Illinois

The National Weather Service defines a blizzard as the following conditions being met for at least three hours: sustained winds or frequent gusts to at least 35 mph and considerable falling and/or blowing snow that frequently reduces visibility to less than a quarter-mile.

Shaded in red is the general area where Bruce produced blizzard conditions. The orange-shaded areas depict where blizzard conditions would typically be observed in November.

4. Avery's Early-Season Heavy Snow Shut Down New York City

Winter Storm Avery created travel gridlock in parts of the Northeast as its mess of snow and ice spread over the region Nov. 15.

The Nov. 15 evening rush hour in the New York City Tri-State area was a nightmare as a heavier burst of snow – the first measurable snow of the season – arrived when people were leaving work. Gridlock stopped many in their tracks and led to hours-long commutes.

The snowfall forecast along the Interstate 95 corridor, particularly around the New York City metro area, overperformed the forecasts, which called for an earlier changeover to rain, and caught many off guard.

New York's Central Park picked up 6.4 inches of snow on Nov. 15 before changing to rain in the evening. It was Central Park's second-heaviest day of November snowfall in records dating back to 1869, topped only by a 9-inch snowfall Nov. 30, 1882.

Avery was also the earliest 6-plus-inch snowfall in New York City for any season, besting the previous record-earliest such storm in 1938 by a whopping nine calendar days. There had only been four such November snowstorms in the Big Apple in almost 150 years of records.

5. Record-Early Snowfalls

Houston reported its earliest snowfall on record Nov. 13 as a brief bout of wintry precipitation moved over the southeastern Texas city.

Although there wasn't any accumulation, it was enough for the city to crush its previous record for earliest first flakes from Nov. 23, 1979.

Sleet even mixed with rain Nov. 13 near the Mexico border in McAllen, Texas, though no official record was broken. Shreveport, Louisiana, also recorded a trace of snowfall Nov. 13.

A day later, Monroe, Louisiana, had its earliest accumulating snow on record as Winter Storm Avery began to develop over the South.

The previous record for the earliest measurable snow in Monroe – defined as 0.1 inches or more – was Nov. 24, 1950, according to the NWS in Shreveport.

6. One of the Wettest Novembers in the Mid-Atlantic and New England

The mid-Atlantic and New England have been soaked by numerous heavy rain events in November.

Through Nov. 26, the month ranked as the wettest November on record in Washington D.C.; Baltimore; Philadelphia; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Hartford, Connecticut; Providence, Rhode Island; and Concord, New Hampshire, according to data from NOAA's Regional Climate Centers.

November ranked as the second-wettest in Boston and the third-wettest in New York City as of Nov. 26.

It should be noted that melted snow is also factored into these rankings because it contributes to the cities' precipitation totals.

The deadliest and most destructive wildfire on record in California, the so-called Camp Fire, erupted Nov. 8 in Butte County in Northern California, quickly spreading across 240 square miles. The fire destroyed most of Paradise, California, in one day.

A home burns as the Camp Fire rages through Paradise, California, on Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018.

(AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Nearly 19,000 buildings, mostly houses, are gone. Thousands of residents lost their homes and all of their belongings.

The Camp Fire has claimed at least 88 lives and was finally 100 percent contained as of Sunday morning, but firefighters will likely be working on it for months.

The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.